News

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

This Sunday is All Saints Sunday, when we remember and give thanks for the saints of the church and in our lives. We have had one church member pass away this last year, our dear Meg Morris. I have known Meg for many years, as she and Bob were former members of Trinity Church in Berkeley, the church I served before Mt. Tam. She had some tough events in her life that might have cowered or defeated another person. Yet Meg’s spirit was strong and her will much bigger than her physical body.
I miss her! And this Sunday, we will give thanks to God for her.

This has not been an easy week, with power outages, raging fires, family and friends evacuated and losing homes, the uncertainty and out-of-controlness of it all. Amazingly, the scripture for this Sunday, chosen months ago, is from Matthew 6, where Jesus shares his message about worry with his followers. “Did the Saints Worry as Much as You Do?” is the sermon title. I’m trying to fill in those words with something that can help all of us in this troubling time. Pray for me in that endeavor, and perhaps the most vital message is that through it all, God is always and still with us. For the saints, for God’s presence, and for you I am grateful. Lastly, grateful for today, that is enough.


Peace,

Pastor Kim

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

October is my busiest month of the year. Not December with Advent and Christmas, or the spring with Lent and Easter. October is the busiest month because the school-year events are in full swing, we are getting ready for Advent/Christmas, stewardship campaign and for me personally, as President of the Conference Claimaints’ Endowment Board, committee meetings, phone calls and one of the three annual meetings adds to a busy schedule. You might find yourself in the same place. And wondering if you can bring any relief to your schedule.

Sometimes I find it isn’t in eliminating events that make a busy time not only tolerable but enjoyable, but doubling down on my commitments that bring me joy and feed me spiritually. That’s why I’m planning on both enjoying the Community Meal/Faith U. lunch this Sunday—a chili cook-off, what’s not to love?—AND the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) Ten Year Anniversary rally at the Civic Center from 3-5. Both of these ministries feed me—literally, in the case of the community meal and my need to be engaged in social justice is nurtured through the rally. The Mt. Tam Social Justice team will be out in full force!

So even though Sunday will be a very full and long day, it will be a powerful day that will feed my spirit and equip us all for ministry. See you this Sunday!

Peace,

Pastor Kim

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

It happens once in a while—in just one day, we have several events of ministry.  Take October 27:  after worship, we have the Community Meal which will also be our Stewardship Faith U. lunch.  Something to which we look forward every year.

AND—October 27th is also the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) BIG Convention—hundreds of folks gathering to witness to and for social justice in Marin County.  It takes place at the Marin Civic Center (big venue), from 3-5 p.m. and our Social Justice Team hopes to turn out 40-50 church friends and members to participate.  Get details from the bulletin, Faith Matters and Clare McCamy.

We could cry “Ugh!” and bemoan this coincidence of scheduling.  And to be honest, it does make for a long day and some folks will have to make a choice about which ministry to take up that day.  Yet, I am convinced that our congregation is large enough and strong enough to both feed the hungry, celebrate Faith U. and witness to God’s justice and love at the MOC convention in one day!

So, let’s gear up!  Let’s commit ourselves to these ministry events, which are openings of the Holy Spirit to us and in our midst.  My challenge to you is for each one of our church family units to participate in at least one of these amazing opportunities.  Bring your children.  Invite a neighbor.  And witness to God’s amazing love which is big enough for us to feed, witness, learn and grow together.  I am so grateful for you!

Peace,

Pastor Kim

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

I will always treasure last Sunday—it would have been enough to only baptize Willie Lang. Did you feel the Spirit moving? Yet, there was more–add-in communion, the blessing of the animals, a great teen youth breakfast and a smoking-hot study of the Book of Job…what a Sunday! 

I will also treasure certain memories—Josh Larson lifting up Romeo, the Larson family 4-month old Bernese Mountain dog puppy, larger than either of his daughters, for a blessing.  6-year old Cole nailing the God question right on the head—“God is up there, right here, right here!”  Willie’s radiant face as he received baptism and the joy on the faces of everyone present as we celebrated together. I will always treasure this past Sunday—how about you?

This Sunday begins four Sundays of Stewardship Season—and Harrison, Richard, Karen, Mary Michael, Tricia and I (the Stewardship Team) are inviting you on a treasure hunt—following Jesus who tells us “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Where is your treasure? And what do you treasure? We’re going to explore the full depth and meaning of the word as spiritual adventure. 

For stewardship is so much more than raising funds for the next year’s annual budget. It is about a congregation teaching itself about caring for all that God has given us, which is everything and how we demonstrate and live out gratitude for all of God’s good gifts. For we each have a ‘treasure,’ “what do you treasure?” broadens our consideration to the edges where God is at work. I think you will find this Stewardship Season spiritually provocative for growth in faith. I am grateful to be on the journey with you. See you for the treasure hunt this Sunday!

Peace

Pastor Kim

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

“By virtue of our baptism…..” Right before I left on sabbatical, I received a most unusual request: “Pastor, when you return, can I be baptized?” Unusual because the requester was Willie Lang. Most baptisms are of children. We’ve baptized just a few adults in my time here and now, as well as our beloved Willie. Upon my return, he inquired again, writing, “Please put me on the baptism waiting list.” In all my years of ministry, I’ve never thought about a “baptism waiting list.” Thank you Willie, for helping me think about that.

What does it mean to be baptized? Traditionally, it is to redeem and save us from the ravages of original sin so that we are fit for heaven. My own belief is that baptism is a sign of God’s love for us and that a church community celebrates that sign and commits itself to join in the spiritual care of the one being baptized. Thomas Keating writes: “If you accept the belief that baptism incorporates us in the mystical body of Christ, into the divine DNA, then you might say that the Holy Spirit is present in each of us, and thus we have the capacity for the fullness of redemption, of transformation.” 

I love that! Baptism as the recognition and celebration of our divine DNA, the Holy Spirit present in each of us. Please pray for our congregation as together we celebrate the baptism of our dear Willie and remind each other that we share a divine DNA as God’s cherished children. I hope to see you this Sunday for a truly amazing joy!

Peace,

Pastor Kim

PS—and the icing on the cake will be the Blessing of the Animals immediately after worship!

My beloved Mt. Tam Church,

With the parsonage back yard facing an open space, it’s a bit of a wildlife park!
An update:
–the turkeys are back, only nine so far this year. And yet, no smarter than last year’s flock of twelve that, of course, we nicknamed The Apostles.
–the Red-Tailed Hawks are continuing to battle crows over territory and airspace.
–a new addition to the menagerie, great horned owls, have nightly hooting battles, beginning around 8 p.m. If we are home and lucky, we can sit outside with the darkening horizon and watch them “hoo-hoo-hoo” at each other until one leaves. We have read that this is how great horned owls defend their territory. So much more civilized than hawks and crows!

Why do I write about this? I share this in the context of the great climate change demonstrations and headlines that dominate right now. We’ve seen the changes in our own backyard: fewer songbirds and more crows, a diminishing number of squirrels, but fighters like raccoons taking territory, no more voles tunneling holes and poking their cute little faces up through the grass. The songbird that woke us up daily nine years ago no longer sings–has it moved on or simply vanished?

Listening to the grim reports leaves us sad, angry, dis-spirited. It’s made harder by the disbelief of international leaders who deny the human component in the cause of climate change and are working actively in deconstructing decades of legislation and practices that produce a clean environment and decrease the human impact. What’s even more difficult for me is that some of the most adamant climate change deniers are members of my family. How do we talk about this with one another when I feel that they are so wrong, maybe even ignorant or willfully foolish?

I think about Jesus with the Pharisees, those God-spirit deniers, who were more invested in the status quo of keeping the Law and the balance of the power structure with Rome than believing in the new revelation God was bringing. More invested in the past than the promise of a different future. Unwilling to listen or change so that God could do a new thing in the world. Jesus seems to have had infinite patience with them, as well as an occasional flare-up or angry word. But he continued to listen, teach and stand up. Perhaps he learned in the process. Most of all, he never gave up on showing up and striving for a relationship with those who would deny God’s new way.

So, with my family members who line up with those international leaders, I’m trying to listen and understand, investing in the relationship rather than winning the argument. I‘m trying to keep myself informed so I know what I’m talking about and what I am saying is not just uninformed opinion. And I’m focusing on the kind of compassion and love that Jesus had for those Pharisees along with an occasional really and kick-in the pants!

I will continue to monitor the health of the wildlife environment in the parsonage backyard. This year brought us a new creatures–the three baby raccoons born in the parsonage crawlspace last spring. They are now growing up and true to the word of the raccoon removal guy who assured us that they never move more than about 200 yards from where they are born, we are awakened often in the middle of the night with the sounds of teenage raccoons careening and wrestling and digging up in the backyard. As crazy as they make me, they are cute! And I will also continue to listen, speak, argue, care for others who disagree with me.

As well as work for a world that takes climate change and the actions we need to take seriously.

Peace,

Pastor Kim